NCI Community Cancer Centers Program

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NCI Community Cancer Centers Programs

Expanding Research. Advancing Care.

In 2007, the NCI provided funding to 16 community cancer centers at hospitals around the country for a pilot program called the NCI Community Cancer Centers Program (NCCCP). The pilot was designed to build a community-based research platform to support a wide range of basic, clinical, and population-based research on cancer prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, survivorship and palliative care at community hospitals – contributing to enhanced quality of care for patients and advancing cancer research.

With funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the original NCCCP pilot program of 16 hospitals was expanded in 2010 to include a network of 30 community cancer centers in 22 states.

The NCCCP hospitals are studying ways to:

Reduce cancer healthcare disparities
Increase patient participation in clinical trials
Improve quality of cancer care
Enhance cancer survivorship and palliative care services
Expand use of electronic health records and connect to cancer research data networks
Promote collection of high-quality biospecimens to support genomically-informed research (also known as personalized medicine)

Learn more about the goals of the program

“Being treated at a hospital that has a research focus means that the care is going to be of a higher caliber, that the staff is going to be more specialized, and that I can be assured of getting the latest treatment.”

Kathy Mays, breast cancer survivor, NCCCP St. Joseph Cancer Institute, Towson, Maryland

Collaborations with National Cancer Organizations and the Research Community
NCCCP hospitals are intensifying their partnerships with the NCI-designated Cancer Centers, The Cancer Genome Atlas, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer, and other research programs to improve patient care and provide patients greater access to research opportunities.

Sharing Lessons Learned
The 30 NCCCP hospitals function as a network, collaborating on projects to improve patient outcomes, share best practices, and develop new tools to achieve program goals. Resources developed through the NCCCP network are made available to other community cancer programs through publications, presentations at national meetings, and through this website. Check here for updated Tools and Resources for community cancer centers.